Oxtail Soup

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Ingredients

  • 2 pounds oxtail, fat trimmed cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch chunks
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2 tablespoons beef drippings, or cooking oil
  • 2 medium yellow onions, minced
  • 2 quarts water, or 6 cups water and 2 cups beef broth or bouillon
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme
  • 3 whole cloves
  • 2 sprigs fresh parsley
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 1/3 cup dry sherry, or port wine, optional

 

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for oxtail soup recipe gathered
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  2. Dredge oxtails in the 1/2 cup flour.

    Oxtails dredged in flour in a shallow bowl
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  3. Heat the beef drippings or cooking oil in a large, heavy pot over high heat. Cook to brown the meat, remove (keeping the fat in the pan), and drain on paper towels.

    Oxtail meat cooking in a large ceramic pot with beef drippings or oil
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  4. Add the minced onions to the pot, turn the heat to medium, and saute 8 to 10 minutes until golden.

    Minced onion cooking in a large ceramic pot with beef fat or oil
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  5. Sprinkle in remaining 2 tablespoons flour, mix well, and brown lightly.

    Flour combined with minced onion in large pot for oxtail soup
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  6. Slowly add the water, and stir in tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Tie the bay leaf in cheesecloth with the thyme, cloves, and parsley and add to the pot.

    Water, tomato paste, bay leaf and spices added to pot with onions
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  7. Return oxtail to pot, cover, and simmer 3 hours until meat is fork-tender. Cool and skim off fat; remove cheesecloth bag.

    Oxtail simmering in water, spices, onions, and tomato paste for soup
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  8. Remove the oxtail from the soup and separate the meat from the bones. Cut the meat into bite-size pieces and return to pot. Add the carrots and celery.

    Oxtail meat removed from the soup to a plate
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  9. Cover and simmer 10 to 15 minutes until carrots are tender. If you like, mix in sherry or port.

    Oxtail soup with carrots and celery and a wooden spoon
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

  10. Serve as is, or strain the liquid and serve as a first course. Follow with oxtail and vegetables.

    Oxtail soup in a bowl with a spoon
    The Spruce Eats / Julia Estrada

Why is Oxtail So Expensive?

It’s a bit of irony that a cut of meat associated with economical cooking—i.e., using every part of the animal because it was efficient and inexpensive—has turned a different corner. In the wake of farm-to-table cuisine, chefs have of late rediscovered this cut of meat and demand has gone up. After all, there’s only one tail per cow.

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